Teenagers who call the park "home'

Lyn Duff, SPECIAL TO THE EXAMINER

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, September 5, 1995

WHEN Midnight and Katy first became roommates, they spent almost a month searching for the perfect place.

They combed Golden Gate Park until they found a spot where the tree branches formed a cave for them to sleep in, then divided the cave into "rooms" - two bedrooms and a kitchen. The two have been living there together for four months.

But now, as Mayor Jordan begins implementing "Matrix II," which includes a pledge to rid the park of homeless people, the two girls face eviction. "If there was a shooting in my apartment and I was the victim, would Jordan evict me?" asks Midnight, 15, referring to the Aug. 19 shooting at a homeless encampment that inspired Matrix II.

"His decision to kick us out is simply an effort to sweep us all under the rug and not deal with the real problems that cause people to be homeless."

According the the Coalition on Homelessness, 23 percent of the homeless people in San Francisco are youth. The only temporary shelter for teenagers in The City is Diamond Youth Shelter in the Haight, which has a 20-night limit. To get shelter after that, minors have to turn themselves in and try to get placed in group homes or foster care.

Golden Retriever and Rescued Tortoise Make the Most Unlikely Best FriendsStoryful

Friends Tick Off Bucket List With Blindfolded TattoosStoryful

Kylie Jenner's First Selfies Since Pregnancy Story BrokeWochit

'Teen Mom' Star Jenelle Evans Is Married — See Her Wedding Pics!Wochit

The way that Midnight and Katy see it, the park is their only option right now. "I'd rather live anyplace but here," says Katy as she stands in the kitchen trying to make soup out of bagels, canned black beans and Odwalla vegetable juice.

"Sleeping outside all the time isn't fun - it's cold, and you get scared. But my family just does not want me, and I used up all my nights (in the youth shelter), so I don't have any other place to go."

Midnight feels the same way. "I had to leave home because of abuse," she says, "and it wasn't even my fault. But now it's like we're some sort of an underclass. Society doesn't want us. And the longer I'm reduced to living on the streets, the less I want society."

Like many of the young people who call Golden Gate Park home, Midnight and Katy say living in the park is better than sleeping on the street.

"There's a real unity here," Midnight observes, "a feeling that we are all family that was lacking in my life before. We all know that we can count on each other."

Rez, 20, who has been homeless off and on for three years, says the community park residents have built "is especially important for some of the underage people here, who need the type of family they get in the park."

Rez says he's found a beautiful spot where it's just him and some ducks, who surround his sleeping bag and quack at night but who "don't mind me."

Rez rejects the idea that homeless people are making the park dangerous.

"I know it can be really scary for someone from the middle class to run into us," he says, "but I just try to be friendly. I'm not going to steal your wallet. I'm not going to bother your children. I'm not going to hurt you."

Many of the homeless people camping out in Golden Gate Park say that the most humiliating and annoying part of living there is that the public bathrooms are all locked and when nature calls, there's nowhere but the bushes to go. But that doesn't mean they'd prefer a shelter.

"For one thing, they (shelters) are dirty," says Katy, who has gotten into adult shelters by lying about her age.

"And you can hardly sleep because people are always turning lights on and off. And your stuff gets stolen, and they aren't safe. I was always scared I'd get raped."

Katy says she's constantly surprised by how people react to her in the park, especially when she asks for change.

"People walk by and say, 'Get a job,' or spit on me," she says. "Don't they know I'm too young to work legally? I'm just a kid and society has a responsibility to provide me with housing. Or at least stop arresting me for sleeping in the park when I don't have any other place to go."

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.